Commercial aircraft make extensive use of systems to plan and execute flights, control the aircraft, and manage a number of other aircraft operations. For example, such systems may include a flight management system (FMS) that generates flight plans with lateral segments and vertical segments to a destination. The flight plans may include details about the appropriate speeds, altitudes, and location in the various modes of a flight, and the FMS determines the most effective mechanisms for complying with these parameters.
Some modern air traffic systems also include a timing requirement such that the aircraft is expected to be at a designated altitude and location at a particular time. Given the already complex considerations of flight planning, as well as the uncertainty associated with implementing such planning, conventional aircraft systems may find the timing or other accuracy requirements to be challenging.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide improved systems and methods for controlling the flight of an aircraft, particularly with respect to time constraints. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the invention and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the invention.